These are the best songs of 2024
1. Chappell Roan – „Good Luck, Babe!“
Released relatively unnoticed in April, the 80s-inspired mix of baroque and synth pop became a “sleeper hit” and shot the American to the top of the charts after appearances on Jimmy Fallon and at Coachella. The lyrics of the non-album single describe a lesbian woman who feels forced by a heteronormative society to deny her romantic feelings.
The queer anthem of the year!
2. Fontaines D.C. – „Starburster“
That this claustrophobic song has its origins in a panic attack suffered by frontman Grian Chatten is unmistakable: driven by full drums, whipped up by synth loops and with the rhythmically inserted breaths with which Chatten tries to keep his head above water in all the chaos of the world, it is absolutely overwhelming.
3. Charli XCX feat. Lorde – „Girl, So Confusing“
It's hard to believe that this glitch-influenced indie dance banger, galloping on a pulsating bassline, wasn't even a single! In it, the pop star of the moment deals with a strained relationship with another musician who is not named. It's not Lorde! Her guest verse in the remix completed the track to a contemporary masterpiece.
4. Billie Eilish – „Birds Of A Feather“
At first, you might turn up your nose at the title: Huh? Birds of a feather? Shouldn't it be the other way around... The title of the biggest hit from Eilish's third album refers to the English idiom “birds of a feather flock together”, which can be roughly translated as “birds of a feather flock together”. An ode to love – not necessarily homosexual love – with the beautiful lines: “Might not be forever / But if it's forever, it's even better”.
5. Idles – „Dancer“
This is where two genres came together that had always belonged together: post-punk from Bristol and dance-punk from New York. James Murphy and Nancy Whang from LCD Soundsystem provide backing vocals for Joe Talbot's guttural singing, with which he commands the dancefloor from the depths of his guts. The guitar riffs sound so dirty that they alone make you want to take a shower after a night of dancing.
6. Beth Gibbons – „Tell Me Who You Are Today“
The sparse guitar licks, the light drumming and the ethereal strings, which only reverently accompany Gibbon's voice, reveal its full splendor. This is the perfect realization of the freedom-seeking lyrics: “If I could change the way I feel / If I could make my body heal / Free from all I hear inside”. Rarely have we enjoyed going for goose bumps so much.
7. Beyoncé – „Texas Hold ’Em“
With her country debut, the native Texan not only took back a genre that was originally hers – and thus triggered a debate that was at least nationwide – but also managed to use her pop sensibilities to inspire a young audience beyond those who already eat out of Queen Bey's hand to embrace the sound of the South.
8. Nilüfer Yanya – „Like I Say (I Runaway)“
The bride who doesn't dare, or rather: the bride who has better plans. In the video, Yanya walks away from the altar. But the wedding is only a proxy here. The song is about how you spend your little time in this strange world. For example, by not being intimidated by conventions and listening to the Londoner's clanging indie rock.
9. Nick Cave – „Wild God“
The long and winding road from hell: the fact that Nick Cave, after the unspeakable pain that life has caused him in recent years, is releasing the most cheerful album of his career is ultimate proof, if any were needed, of how well he means it with us. The title track is the most helpful consolation that pop music currently has to offer.
10. The Cure – „And Nothing Is Forever“
"And Nothing Is Forever" is the third song from Songs of a Lost World to be performed live on the Cure's 2022 tour (after "Alone" and "Endsong"), and was first played in Stockholm on October 10.
As The Independent revealed, "And Nothing Is Forever": is a song about a promise Smith made to be with someone on their deathbed.